Supplemental information

Broadcast information

For those who could not attend in person, the speech was recorded for replay at 7 p.m. on Sept.19 on KSMU 91.1, 88.7 in Mountain Grove, 90.3 in West Plains, 98.9 in Joplin, 103.7 in Neosho, and KSMS 90.5 in Branson.

The speech will be televised on Ozarks Public Television at 6 p.m. on Sept. 22.

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Supplemental information

Broadcast information

For those who could not attend in person, the speech was recorded for replay at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 on KSMU 91.1, 88.7 in Mountain Grove, 90.3 in West Plains, 98.9 in Joplin, 103.7 in Neosho, and KSMS 90.5 in Branson.

The speech will be televised on Ozarks Public Television at 8 p.m. on Sept. 7.

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I want to update you on the budget for both fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2013, review major outcomes of the Board of Governors retreat, designate additional leave days for staff and highlight recent private investments in Missouri State University.

Budget updates

First, for the fiscal year 2013 budget, not much has changed since the last issue of Clif’s Notes. The Missouri General Assembly is on spring break until March 19 at which time the full House will discuss the budget.

There have been some amendments made to fully restore the higher education budget to this year’s level. It is unclear how likely those amendments are to prevail. For now, we need to continue to plan for the 7.78 percent reduction discussed in the Feb. 14 issue of Clif’s Notes.

Proposal process

For the current year (fiscal year 2012), you have heard that Governor Nixon has released about $2.3 million to higher education. For Missouri State, that means $200,000. I want to explain how we intend to allocate those one-time funds.

Of the total, $150,000 will be for academic-related projects and $50,000 will be for non-academic projects. Our intent is to make these dollars available through a grant process, with the money available to spend through June 30, 2013.

Soon, Provost Frank Einhellig will distribute more detailed instructions and a timeline for the academic proposal process, and I will do the same for non-academic. I can tell you this much:

Academic — Frank has agreed to match the $150,000 with $150,000 from his reserve for a total pool of $300,000; the priority for proposals will be for initiatives that continue to enhance enrollment; proposals for summer school 2012 may be included.

Non-Academic — I will match the $50,000 with $50,000 from the president’s reserve for a total of $100,000; this will account for two-thirds of any proposal; the unit making the proposal must commit to funding the other third (i.e., if a proposal is $30,000, the grant will cover $20,000, and the unit will be expected to cover the other $10,000). The deadline for submitting non-academic proposals is March 30.

We look forward to seeing the proposals that come forward during this process.

Board of Governors mid-year retreat

The Board of Governors met for its mid-year retreat March 1-2 in St. Louis in conjunction with the men’s Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament, which has become a tradition in recent years.

The primary purpose of the retreat was to update the Board on our progress in implementing the long-range plan, Our Promise. This was especially helpful to our new Board members. The Board also touched on several other items.

Presidential search

One of the main outcomes of the retreat was the Board’s decision to move forward with the presidential search. This was described to you in some detail in an email last week from Board Chair Gordon Elliott. In the near future, there will be a presidential search website that will contain all of the pertinent information as the process moves forward.

As you probably know, I will be a candidate for the position, so I will maintain some distance from the process, which I started by excusing myself at the retreat during that discussion.

Open forum

Another outcome of the retreat will be a campus open forum sometime later this spring. The purpose of the forum will be to gain campus input on recommendations to revise or eliminate several targets originally identified in the long-range plan. Prior to the forum, I will circulate the recommendations and the rationale for the changes. We will seek campus input both in writing and at the forum before finalizing and making the changes.

Scorecard

Finally, the Administrative Council and I will be working on preparing our scorecard to measure our progress on goals in the long-range plan. We will keep the main scorecard to 10 to 12 key indicators, with individual units continuing to measure a broader array of goals specific to their work.

The importance of private gifts

On many occasions, I have spoken and written about the increased importance of private contributions given the budget challenges we are facing. Private support is critical to our ability to advance the University in many areas. That is why it was so gratifying to recently announce two significant gifts.

What started as a friendship with the staff in the Garnett Library at Missouri State University-West Plains ultimately led to a $4 million gift to support students with financial need who attend that campus. It is the largest single gift for student scholarships in the University’s history, and we very much appreciate the generosity of Lorene Thompson Brooks.

When JQH Arena was built, the budget did not allow for the completion of the Bears and Lady Bears office and locker room complex. A conscious decision was made to create “shell space” under the south lower bowl which could be completed when private gifts were available. That has now occurred, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Jim D. Morris. His leadership gift will be coupled with a gift from the McQueary Family and other donors to make that project a reality.

Speaking of the McQuearys, on April 20, we will officially open the new wing of the McQueary Family Health Sciences Hall. This new wing is a major asset for the health programs at Missouri State.

Private gifts also have assisted us in moving forward with the Gohn Hall project in West Plains, the Science Scholars’ Laboratory addition at Greenwood Laboratory School and the Robert W. Plaster Center for Free Enterprise and Business Development, the first phase of which will be completed in late fall of this year.

Two points: First, I want to offer my public congratulations and thanks to all who have made these gifts possible. In some cases, these commitments were the result of relationships built over many years. Second, please know that we continue to work with potential donors on other buildings and initiatives in support of our academic programs and our co-curricular programs. Every investment by a donor moves the University forward.

Additional leave days

As you know the president has the discretion to provide up to four additional days of leave for staff. For these two days, the University will close as it would for any holiday leave. The two additional leave days are as follows:

Friday, May 25, 2012 — this is the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday, thus providing a four-day weekend

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012 — this is the day prior to the two-day Thanksgiving holiday, thus expanding this to a three-day holiday for staff

Closer to the end of the calendar year, we will address the possibility of granting additional leave days during the December/January mid-year holiday break.

Conclusion

I continue to be honored to serve as your interim president. I appreciate all you do to help Missouri State University succeed.

–Clif

Last week, Missouri State fraternities and sororities joined together to celebrate sisterhood and brotherhood in the Greek community through Greek Week. During Greek Week, pairs of fraternities and sororities compete against other pairs in a series of events, from philanthropy nights and service events to banners and relays. A VIP reception also honors scholastic achievement and excellence within the fraternity and sorority life community.

Gail and I attended the week’s signature events — the VIP reception and Greek Jam. At Greek Jam, about 50 students from each fraternity-sorority combination performed choreographed routines that they have been practicing since January and developing since last summer. This year’s Greek Jam winner was Sigma Kappa/Theta Chi/Alpha Phi Alpha; they were also the winners of overall Greek Week. Their winning performance can be watched below. They were fantastic as were the other groups. We were glad we were not judging.

Besides having a great time, these students made a difference in our community. As a whole, the fraternities and sororities raised $1,500 for Children’s Miracle Network and collected about 5,500 pounds of food for Ozarks Food Harvest. About 100 sorority and fraternity members also helped clean up Jordan Creek during a service event Saturday, March 10.

Overarching goals

As the budget recommendations for fiscal year 2013, the four overarching goals for all committees, and ultimately the Executive Budget Committee, are:

Create a pool of resources to fund an across-the-board salary increase for faculty and staff.

Determine criteria for allocating one-time funding.

Develop a strategy for funding new initiatives.

Begin to develop plans that will incentivize and reward colleges and other units to increase enrollments and revenues, without compromising academic quality, with such plans to be implemented in the fiscal year 2014 budget.

Fiscal year 2013 budget assumptions

State appropriations — reduction of 5 percent ($3,583,667)

It is likely this is a worst case scenario, but we believe it prudent to plan for this level of reduction. We will know more in January and can adjust at that time if appropriate.

Enrollment — same as fall 2010

The Executive Budget Committee endorsed a more aggressive approach to enrollment. In short, estimating flat enrollment from the actual for fiscal year 2011 (fall 2010) and budgeted for fiscal year 2012 means we must recapture the 147 students we lost on the Springfield Campus in current fiscal year 2012 (fall 2011) to meet this projection. (Remember, the West Plains Campus has a parallel but separate budget process, and that campus will be working to recapture the 87 students it lost this year.) So, in total, it means moving from the current 22,866 back to 23,092.

Tuition increase — increase by 3.6 per cent ($3,348,558)

Absent a waiver, state law limits the tuition increase to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from December to December. We estimate that CPI will be 3.6 per cent. We will have official notification of CPI in January and will finalize then. We do not intend to request a waiver to exceed CPI.

Other expenses — reallocate to fund more than $3.7 million of increases

We must reallocate for other increases, including a mid-year salary increase ($2,362,899), MOSERS increase ($522,290), University contribution to medical insurance (estimated at $907,710 based on current claims rate) plus utility increases and other fixed expense increases yet to be determined.

Elements of the budget plan for fiscal year 2013

Provided the above assumptions are accurate in total, we will implement the following plan:

Current fiscal year (FY12)

Based on proposals from the college deans, Interim Provost Einhellig and President Smart will strategically invest some one-time funds into academic programs to boost capacity, especially in health fields.

The first six months of the mid-year raise will be funded centrally.

Next fiscal year (FY13)

Pending input from the Board of Governors, and ultimately formal approval by the Board

Over the next 18 months, the plan is to increase faculty and staff salaries from a pool that equates to about a 4 percent overall increase. Here is how:

Cost centers will be expected to reallocate their pro rata share of $3.7 million. This includes the ongoing cost of the mid-year raise (approximately $2.3 million), plus an additional $1.4 million to help fund anticipated increased expenses – cost center heads may use one-time funds for up to one-third (33.3 percent) of the reallocation for up to three years, provided the plan meets reserve targets and is approved in advance by the CFO.

Beginning July 1, 2012, an additional 2 percent across-the-board raise will be implemented and funded through reallocations centrally and in selected university-wide budget categories. This funding for the salaries will be distributed into the cost center budgets. (Again, this proposed salary increase, as well as other elements of this plan, are dependent on meeting the overall assumptions on the front page, especially limiting the state appropriations reduction to 5 percent.)

Should the reduction in state appropriations be less than the 5 percent assumed in the budget model, the balance will be returned to the cost centers on a pro rata basis.

Every effort will be made to fund a 2 percent increase for graduate assistants; this increase will be funded centrally.

From their one-time fund balances, cost centers would increase the rates for all per-course faculty by at least $15 per credit hour.

A strategic investment package of $1 million in one-time funds will be available from University Reserves — proposals will be generated and all will be discussed and prioritized by either the Academic Affairs Budget Committee or the Administrative Budget Committee, then forwarded as priority proposals to the Executive Budget Committee. The Executive Budget Committee will discuss the proposals prior to the president making the final recommendation. In cases where the one-time funds are proposed as “start-up” funds for recurring expenses, a plan for sustaining the funding must accompany the proposal. A specific timeline for submitting proposals will be developed, but the deadline is likely to be mid-February.